DUBLIN: The European Union’s hopes of greater global clout hinged on Friday on Ireland, where voters decided on the Lisbon Treaty for a second time in a referendum which risks tipping the bloc into crisis if they reject it again.
Brussels is counting on Ireland’s three million voters to ratify the charter after they dismissed it last year, stalling the introduction of a long-term president and a stronger foreign policy chief for the EU’s near half a billion citizens.
Voting was slow across the country, with turnout at around 20-25 percent by mid afternoon, but officials expect it to pick up when people leave work for the weekend.
“At the moment it is looking good for the ‘Yes’ vote, but we need people to come out this evening,” European Affairs Minister Dick Roche said.
Opinion polls suggest this time around Ireland will give Lisbon the thumbs up when the results are declared on Saturday.
Dublin has secured concessions from Brussels, and many Irish fear that a second rejection would isolate the country as it battles one of the worst recessions in the western world.
Prime Minister Brian Cowen, who could lose his job if he presides over a second defeat, has warned that rejection could provoke an exodus of foreign investment and has urged voters to set aside their feelings about him when they decide.
The Lisbon Treaty, designed to speed up decision-making in the EU, give it a long-term president and a stronger foreign policy chief, needs to be ratified by all 27 member states in order to take effect.
A second rejection would severely delay EU integration and further enlargement as both France and Germany have said expansion cannot take place if the charter is not in force.
